On Monday, the celebrity-touted Minnesota Freedom Fund (MFF) posted a message online after facing intense backlash over the bail-out charity’s allocation of funds and lack of transparency.
According to MFF’s website, the organization has brought in over $30 million in donations since the death of George Floyd. However, only “well over” $200,000 in donations — less than 1% of their funds — have actually been used to bail out protesters and rioters.
“Appreciate all those calling for transparency,” the fund posted online Monday. “We see y’all. Our values and mission have not changed since 2016. Be on the lookout for things coming on our end. Be well.”
A follow-up tweet read: “Without jeopardizing the safety of the folks we bailed out we paid well over $200k in the weeks since the uprising alone. We are working on doing more.”
Without jeopardizing the safety of the folks we bailed out we paid well over $200k in the weeks since the uprising alone. We are working on doing more.
— Minnesota Freedom Fund (@MNFreedomFund) June 16, 2020
According to a report from Newsweek, many online have “said that MFF had collected $35 million in donations in recent weeks and spent only a small fraction, prompting ’35 MILLION’ and ‘only 200k’ to start trending on Twitter.”
“It’s not clear exactly how much the fund has raised since protests began, but on the Frequently Asked Questions section of the MFF website, updated earlier this month, it said that more than $30 million had been donated to the fund in the wake of Floyd’s death,” the report added.
The post from MFF quickly went viral, racking up thousands of replies from people angered by the lack of transparency:
https://twitter.com/MikeBaggz/status/1272797160065699840
…and the remaining $34,800,000 went where? pic.twitter.com/A3fJewyB1h
— Ashley K. (@AshleyKSmalls) June 16, 2020
$200K is such a small portion of the 35 million donated. One thing you don't play with is folk's money. Better give that shxt back before Black Twitter wakes up pic.twitter.com/jkfuUIMeJX
— Joey 🍊 (@JoeySmith511) June 16, 2020
At the end of May, superstar Justin Timberlake announced that he’d be donating to MFF, hoping to bail out rioters.
“Please join me in supporting the Minneapolis protestors by donating to the @mnfreedomfund,” he tweeted. “The freedom fund is combating the harms of incarceration by paying bail for low income individuals who cannot otherwise afford: minnesoatafreedomfund.org.”
As noted by The Daily Wire, other celebrities, like Steve Carell, Seth Rogan, Janelle Monae, Ben Schwartz, and Don Cheadle also chipped in $1,000 each for suspected criminal rioters in Minneapolis by donating to MFF.
Protests started to pop-up across the nation last month following the death of Floyd, a black man who died after a police officer had his knee on the 46-year-old’s neck during an arrest, a moment captured on video.
However, things quickly turned ugly; arson, looting, and violence spiked in places like Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York City, Rochester, and other cities.
Since Floyd’s passing, all four officers involved in the arrest have been fired, investigations from the FBI and state law enforcement have been opened, and the officer at the center of the incident was taken into custody and charged with second-degree murder; the three other officers involved have since been charged, too.
Related: ‘F*** TRUMP AND KEEP GOING’: Teigen, Carell, Other Celebs Posting Bail For Rioters
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